Final fate of "British Columbia" by the end

  • 1. Eventual independence

    Votes: 18 51.4%
  • 2. Eventual merging with the US

    Votes: 17 48.6%
  • 3. Something else (post in thread for more details)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    35
  • Poll closed .
To put a link to a TL below your post, go to the 'About' section of your profile and put it in your Signature. It should show up then :)
 
To put a link to a TL below your post, go to the 'About' section of your profile and put it in your Signature. It should show up then :)
Thanks. I had this weird idea of Bismarck's parents fleeing what is now Germany due to political violence and settling in the United States of America... and have a displaced Bismarck rather like HeX's displaced Churchill and Napoleon53's displaced Stalin (Joe Steele). That would greatly change Germany's formation so the effects will be manifold.
 
Thanks. I had this weird idea of Bismarck's parents fleeing what is now Germany due to political violence and settling in the United States of America... and have a displaced Bismarck rather like HeX's displaced Churchill and Napoleon53's displaced Stalin (Joe Steele). That would greatly change Germany's formation so the effects will be manifold.
Yes, it would. I've just finished a book on Queen Victoria's daughters and the author is adamant that the future Wilhelm II very much looked up to Bismarck and his grandfather and sought to emulate their military successes, unlike his father and British mother, who deplored them. Without a Bismarck to make Prussia as successful as it was, it could be that ITTL's Wilhelm II has a much happier relationship with his parents, although they'd still have the horrendous birth and very different characters to overcome... Although if Prussia isn't so militaristic from the start, the Princess Royal may be better accepted as a future Empress there anyway...
 

ASUKIRIK

Banned
Hey, that sounds like a good idea. I'll incorporate it, somehow, although that will probably be later when historians and historiography have evolved enough to separate the truth from the rumors. There will be something about that sometime, but in the future. Next update about the U.S. proper, and some French Revolution as well.
Modern DNA testings already proven that Descendants of Sally Hemmings' surviving adult Children (especially her sons), is definitely genetic descendants of Thomas Jefferson as well.

Jefferson marrying Sally Hemmings would be a great step forward, but we should remember that interracial marriage was not allowed until the SCOTUS decided the issue in 1967, and Virginia was the offending state in question. That was 100+ years after the end of slavery.
That never happened in this timeline. Now Interracial marriage would be allowed earlier (SCOTUS would decide the issue far earlier) but I'm nowhere close to that point yet.

Jefferson has the unique position of being the main drafter of the Constitution and one of the most influential of the Founding Fathers. If he really wanted to insert equality clause out from the start like this...
That is because they were the most cowardly of hypocrites. We wanted freedom from Great Britain and that all men were created equal. They, however, thought it would mean the end of slavery, which they apparently treasured to the degree that they would not join us in our fight for freedom. I knew there would be trouble with the anti-slavery clause in the Declaration of Independence, but I never knew the Deep Southern delegates would be so protective of their ‘peculiar institution’ as to betray us. These unworthy Judases deserve their place in the ninth circle of hell. In that case, we will continue with our journey for independence. The objections in the lower South will not deter us from our dream of freedom.
-Thomas Jefferson
It would be simply done because the three colonies who chickened out already done that and the abolitionist-minded won't even challenge that because if an interracial marriage involving Jefferson is the one needed for Slavery to be abolished, they will cheering on and congratulate Jefferson for having a living son.

Ironically enough, this will either deter interracial marriage in Deep South and British Empire, or actually made slavery officially colorblind.
 
They are progressive, but not that progressive that early. Jefferson's era equality clause wouldn't pass due to Americans not ready for it tbh. I'm thinking the "Civil Rights Movement" proper starts really in the 1870s-90s. This will be in the "American Bismarck" and "The Age of Civil Rights" chapters, so stay tuned. Those will come later. Chapter Update... tomorrow?
 
Pictures part 1
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Snake cut into pieces showing the colonies. GA, SC, and NC fell off the snake...

1582428995057.png

General Washington Crossing the Delaware (American Revolution Painting)
 
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Jefferson marrying Sally Hemmings would be a great step forward, but we should remember that interracial marriage was not allowed until the SCOTUS decided the issue in 1967, and Virginia was the offending state in question. That was 100+ years after the end of slavery.
That never happened in this timeline. Now Interracial marriage would be allowed earlier (SCOTUS would decide the issue far earlier) but I'm nowhere close to that point yet.
I THINK anti-miscegenation(wrote it right? isn't it?) laws were a custom than a hard law at the time, yeah he marrying Sally would make him persona non grata among most racist whites but not illegal or a deal killer
 
Chapter 3: Checkmate in France
Here's the France Update.

Checkmate in France
“The King has largely agreed to our demands. This is the first step in the formation of a fairer and more just France. We can finally start to rectify the horrendous injustices that plagued the French people.”
-Lafayette
"The Events in France have shown the weakness of the French King compared to the revolutionaries. Such movements could erode at the legitimacy of kings and emperors in other countries, such as in my own. There needs to be a coalition of countries that can stand against revolutionary action in case it arrives here. There aren't enough words in French or in German to say how much I despise revolutionaries."
-Metternich


France had been a powderkeg ever since 1784. Famine had gripped large sections of the populace, and starvation caused by decades of bad harvests and drought caused many people to be furious at the government, which they saw as providing no relief to them. A volcanic eruption in Iceland changing the world’s climate did not help matters. Frivolous spending, often in the clergy and nobility, and exacerbated by providing support to the American Revolution, had caused massive problems for the French financial situation. The situation was grievous. Marches for bread spiraled into marches for political reform since the King, Louis XVI, was seen as hopelessly inept—often listening to the lies of whoever comforting the most. As a result, the impending disaster. The French thinkers, inspired by the American Revolution, had new ideas for France, including a constitutional republic. Tax reform was also crucial, as the first two estates, despite having most of the wealth of France, hardly paid any taxes—an injustice many of the French intellectuals were trying to rectify. Most of the reformers were also trying to end the feudal system once and for all.

The King, in a desperate attempt to solve the financial crisis gripping the country, would call up the Estates-General, which was not summoned for 175 years. This did not solve the country’s problems, and only further established the French nobility as out of touch with everyone else. The Third Estate, composed of most of France’s population, had great issues that they were being voted down by the other two estates, despite those two having far less population. As a result, reform seemed impossible.

King Louis XVI decided to do something sensible, probably for the first time ever. The country was at stake, and he feared losing his head similarly to Charles I of England centuries prior. He decided to appear before the Estates-General even in their state of agitated revolt. His Majesty appeared before them, and made a short speech saying that his terrible advisors caused all the problems in France and that he was still looking out for the welfare of France. To ensure his political survival, the King realized he needed to meet the key demands of the Third Estate, such as the representation by head it desired. The crowd responded with shouting of “Vive le Roi!”

Despite the complaints of the nobility, the King (at least temporarily) agreed with the demands of the Third Estate and finally taxed the nobility and clergy. Mass distributions of bread to the peasantry—in an attempt to curtail the ‘bread riots’ occurring throughout France. Most importantly, the Third Estate—with some defectors from the first two estates—had ideas on reducing the power of the King. But at least the worst was over. Most of the necessary reforms passed and the King survived with his prestige as a venerated figure in French politics intact.

The French system was completely overhauled by the end of the 1700s. Gone was the “Ancien Regime”. The old nobility had its power greatly reduced. The “Overhaul of France”; some called it the “French Revolution” due to all the drastic changes, would greatly affect world history to come. Shortly after the restructuring of France, the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen”, detailing the rights of citizens in France, would form.

Americans were sympathetic to the changes in France since they reminded Americans of themselves—fighting against a tyrannous government. As a result, many Americans helped spread their own democratic ideas to France. Other countries in Europe looked upon this with alarm. The “Overhaul of France” greatly worried them, Austria and Prussia in particular. Austria originally had plans to invade France, but these plans were stopped by the fact that Louis XVI was still on the throne—even if his powers were reduced by the new Constitution of France. The flight of French aristocrats to many countries, especially Austria, only increased the fear established monarchs and nobility had on revolution or dramatic overhaul.

Revolutionaries in Prussia attempted to gain traction for their own movement but received little help for now. The French were busy consolidating their own political reform (some called it ‘internal revolution’, and the Americans were trying to support the French. The Prussian government sought the support of the British government to quash potential rebellion. The British sent some soldiers to help the Prussians in case revolution happened, but this only caused more suspicion in Prussia. Various revolutionaries attempted to seize gunpowder from an old storehouse, but were defeated by the Prussian army and scattered.

By the time of 1792, the dust had largely settled in France. King Louis XVI had accepted various limits on his power, and the reformers had largely gotten what they wanted. Stabilization was finally starting to return to the battered country. Part of this change was due to key aristocrats seeing the injustices of the old system and supporting the Third Estate—which convinced the King that the “Ancien Regime” was a lost cause. The tax system was greatly revised, with the end of local taxation systems. Instead, a national taxation system replaced all the local taxation systems, and a land tax was implemented. The deficit looked better now that the nobles were properly taxed—and the King made sure they did not step out of line. Even an approach toward free trade was considered, although implementation would have a difficult time passing.

 
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Jefferson marrying Sally Hemmings would be a great step forward, but we should remember that interracial marriage was not allowed until the SCOTUS decided the issue in 1967, and Virginia was the offending state in question. That was 100+ years after the end of slavery.
Not required to be allowed. Other states had allowed it before 1967. (Most of the remaining miscegination laws were in the South)
 
Not required to be allowed. Other states had allowed it before 1967. (Most of the remaining miscegination laws were in the South)
Thank you for that info. I will tackle the "Advanced Civil Rights" issues after the 1840 chapter in more detail. There will definitely be allowance of interracial marriage far earlier but probably not as early as in Jefferson's time.
If the France update seems a bit short, I am also going to update the first two chapters a bit. The Jefferson Retrospective... that might take more time since I don't want to bungle the Jefferson chapter tbh.
 
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And I've updated the first three chapters a bit. There will be a delay this weekend due to a paper I need to write. See you on Monday!
 
I think most people took you literally that you wouldn't be posting till Monday so didn't reply :) but, while I'm here, of course the ubiquitous request for a map :) I wonder if the Spanish and British have some unfinished business because the Spanish would like to have gotten back Florida so the fires in the back might partly have been because the Spanish would be attacking the British in that area. That is something else to cover. Of course you might have mentioned that already in editing, I don't know.

And yes, I remember those days and College on the old Usenet News Group and it is very tempting to keep coming back and take study breaks. :)
 
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I think most people took you literally that you wouldn't be posting till Monday so didn't reply :) but, while I'm here, of course the ubiquitous request for a map :) I wonder if the Spanish and British have some unfinished business because the Spanish would like to have gotten back Florida so the fires in the back might partly have been because the Spanish would be attacking the British in that area. That is something else to cover. Of course you might have mentioned that already in editing, I don't know.

And yes, I remember those days and College on the old Usenet News Group and it is very tempting to keep coming back and take study breaks. :)

I'm sorry about that. And I'm terrible at making maps.
 
Thank you for that info. I will tackle the "Advanced Civil Rights" issues after the 1840 chapter in more detail. There will definitely be allowance of interracial marriage far earlier but probably not as early as in Jefferson's time.
If the France update seems a bit short, I am also going to update the first two chapters a bit. The Jefferson Retrospective... that might take more time since I don't want to bungle the Jefferson chapter tbh.

White supremacist mentality didn't start in 1619 and decline over time. It actually became worse over time. The Revolutionary Era was early enough that this wouldn't be ASB territory - at that point in history you could still develop a three-tier caste system like the French colonies. The worst racism developed later as an attempt to justify slavery.

The Deep South wouldn't be Dixieland in TTL, at least not this early. The nickname originally belonged to New Orleans and hadn't been invented yet. After the Louisiana Purchase, bank notes were bilingual and the $10 notes said both "ten" and "dix". Dixie came from the notes being called "dixies".
 
White supremacist mentality didn't start in 1619 and decline over time. It actually became worse over time. The Revolutionary Era was early enough that this wouldn't be ASB territory - at that point in history you could still develop a three-tier caste system like the French colonies. The worst racism developed later as an attempt to justify slavery.

The Deep South wouldn't be Dixieland in TTL, at least not this early. The nickname originally belonged to New Orleans and hadn't been invented yet. After the Louisiana Purchase, bank notes were bilingual and the $10 notes said both "ten" and "dix". Dixie came from the notes being called "dixies".

Thank you... What would be a better name for it? I'm not good at historically accurate names. Thank you for the advice with the naming and the mentality.
With the lack of the Deep South, and slavery itself vanishing by 1840, some of the worst racism would be gone (since it is written in the Constitution that slavery shall disappear from the US to a certain time). I'll go revise the earlier chapters if you have a better name.
 
Carolina as a whole might be okay, given how small Georgia was.

However, Columbia would also be good and probably a bit better. Columbia was the capital of South Carolina at this point I think. Columbia was an important name in the Americas, hence our timelines Capital being the District of Columbia.

So people don't have to go back and read and Tire posts to see what you changed, maybe have one post which enumerates the changes very brief, like in one sentence each.
 
Thank you. Do you like what I'm doing? How could I improve.
Here is the summary of the changes
Chapter 1: Changed 'Dixieland' to 'Columbia'
Chapter 2: Added section on slave revolts
Chapter 3: Expanded on the France section
 
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Chapter 4: Jeffersonian Democracy and Western Exploration
The United States of America was still very much an agricultural nation. The notion of a rural Republic would not die out until later. The Industrial Revolution would start soon, though. For instance, the Lowell Mills would soon develop, turning cotton (typically imported from Virginia, or from British sources in the south)—into cloth. Similar mills would become commonplace in Great Britain, and some would appear in France and Prussia. Very few would appear in Columbia, though. This was purposefully achieved for the purpose of making it dependent on the mother country. Factories started to spring up in America, starting from the late 1790s and continuing into the decades afterwards. American manufactures developed, often copied from British sources due to the British ban on export of manufacturing techniques, skilled workers, and industrial machinery. The development of interchangeable parts from metal was a key step in the American system of manufacturing that gave America an important advantage in industrialization. The development of industrialization in the United States of America was one of the major flashpoints that set America onto its destiny as a major power.

The Election of 1796 was critical for American democracy because it was the first transition of power between opposing factions. John Adams respectfully ceded to Thomas Jefferson in it after Jefferson received more votes in the Electoral College. The peaceful transition of power was crucial for the survival of American democracy. Jefferson’s Presidency had obtained several important accomplishments for the United States of America. The first would be the continuation of Westward expansion and the gaining of large amounts of land for the United States of America. Westward expansion was a key part of American policy, and it had just finalized an agreement, the Treaty of London, about the border with Great Britain’s holdings both to the North and South of them: 49°40’N in the North between Canada and the USA, and 36°,30’ N for the boundary between Columbia and the USA. The apparently odd-looking southern boundary was simply the Virginia-North Carolina boundary extended westward as the border area.

In 1802, the United States of America attempted to buy Spain’s northern holdings for a bargain price in the Treaty of Madrid. This enraged Great Britain, so a compromise was made where Great Britain would gain New Orleans and its surround area, while the U.S. would get the rest of the Louisiana Territory and free use of the Mississippi River and New Orleans port, and Spain would receive cash payments (around $9 million from the U.S. and $10 million from Britain). After acrimonious bickering, the Treaty of Madrid was finalized in 1803.

Even prior to the Treaty of Madrid in 1803, Britain and Spain had problems over imperial ambitions, and there was an issue on disputed territory in Florida. The San Lorenzo treaty was signed in 1802, giving Florida to the British for a sum of cash, while the British would gain Florida. Spain accepted to all these because it was desperately short on cash and needed the money quickly. Spain would fall further and further into decline, even with the cash infusion. Its colonies in South America, Mexico, and Central America were becoming restless, eventually rebelling by the 1820s. Part of the reason was due to the American beliefs in freedom from colonization spreading southward, and another reason was the Spanish crown attempting to drain the gold and silver from its colonies to pay its debts and cover its bills back home. The development of Spain proper still lagged behind Britain, France and the United States of America. Charles IV, the Spanish king, was widely derided as incompetent. He had little idea of how to rule an empire, and the Spanish intellectuals often accused of spending large amounts of money at parties. Rebellions started in Spain, but were crushed due to their lack of popular support across the country. They may have hated Charles IV, but many of the Spanish distrusted republicanism even more. So the Spanish republicanist movement failed horribly, succeeding only in draining the treasury of the Spanish crown even more.

Exploration would also prove to be an important part of the Jefferson administration, with him being the main writer of the Declaration of Independence and a big contributor to the U.S. Constitution. He was able to get enough support with the House of Representatives and the Senate to pass a law that permitted a large expedition on the land purchased in the Treaty of Madrid. The expedition was led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark; it made peace with various groups of Native Americans, discovered over one hundred new species of plant and animal, and reached an ocean in the West (the Pacific Ocean). This expedition added greatly to many fields of science; the pictures that some of the pioneers painted inspired future generations of Americans to settle this vast expanse of land.

Americans would send more pioneers and settlers into this newly-purchased land from Spain. There was a large expanse, to be subdivided into states when enough people inhabited them. The promise of vast opportunity attracted many immigrants to the U.S. for a chance at a better life. New farms sprang up in arable land to the west, and the cultivation of many crops, especially wheat, increased drastically. The United States was on its way to becoming the breadbasket of the world. Great Britain would do the same in the territories that would eventually be given the names Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. However, large farms and plantations were the order of the day there. Westward expansion came at the expense of the Native Americans. The “Trail of Tears” in Columbia was not the only part of the Native American tragedy. Native Americans were often forced to move westward or forced to integrate into the country that absorbed their land. Many other Native Americans were simply killed in battle—and reports came flying in of massacres of Native Americans by colonial militias in Columbia, but the British authorities did not investigate further due to ‘lack of evidence’. The United States of America could have questioned the British authorities, but fear of being drawn into a conflict with Great Britain, coupled with a desire to remain neutral, caused the United States to focus more on its own affairs, and the questioning was dropped.
 
So this chapter came a bit early. Do you have any characters that you would like as heroes or villains? (Abraham Lincoln and Otto Von Bismarck are already planned for).
 
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